Dewstow Primary School, Newport

Dewstow Primary School is an English-medium school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

It had 216 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

20% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 6% have additional learning needs (32% in 2020/21); 3% are learning English as an additional language; and 9% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 22 pupils (Year 5) to 31 (Year 6).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £5,718 per pupil, against £4,233 in 2021-22. It carried forward £6k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its May 2022 inspection summarises Dewstow Primary School like this:

"Dewstow Primary is an inclusive school that places a strong emphasis on supporting the well-being of its pupils and engaging well with their families. Leaders and staff at all levels provide a warm and welcoming learning environment for pupils that is set out over four plazas, each containing two year groups of pupils. In these vibrant learning spaces, staff collaborate well to promote a sense of community and belonging. However, across these spaces and the wider school, there is too much variation in their approaches to teaching and learning."

"Often, teachers’ expectations are too low and most lessons are not well-paced. Teachers do not inform pupils well enough about what they need to do next to improve their work. Leaders, staff and the governing body are starting to work closely with parents to improve the culture of reading across the school. As a result, many pupils are now starting to make strong progress from their starting points."

"Parents appreciate the opportunities to be involved in their children’s learning. However, there is too little focus on improving pupils’ skills across the curriculum as leaders do not evaluate their progress well enough or the quality of the school’s provision. The school is beginning to develop its approach to the Curriculum for Wales and is working well with other schools. However, the planning for and design of the school’s curriculum, as well as the mapping of skills to ensure pupil progress, is at a very early stage."

Estyn made 6 recommendations: (1) Improve leadership at all levels; (2) Improve evaluation and improvement processes; (3) Improve the quality of teaching and learning experiences across the school; (4) Plan for the progressive and systematic development of pupils’ skills across the curriculum, including regular opportunities for them to develop their writing skills; (5) Strengthen assessment processes and feedback to pupils; (6) Provide regular opportunities for pupils to develop pupils as independent learners.

The nearest other state primary schools to Dewstow Primary School are Castle Park Primary School (0.4 miles), Durand Primary School (0.5 miles), Rogiet C.P. School (1.1 miles) and Archbishop Rowan Williams CIW School (1.4 miles).

The nearest railway station is Caldicot Rail Station, about 690 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Health Centre (outside), 90 metres away.